Adipose tissue facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Adipose tissue |
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| Adipose tissue is one of the main types of connective tissue |
In biology, adipose tissue, body fat, or simply fat is a loose connective tissue composed mostly of adipocytes. In addition to adipocytes, adipose tissue contains the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of cells including preadipocytes, fibroblasts, vascular endothelial cells and a variety of immune cells such as adipose tissue macrophages.
Adipose tissue comes from from preadipocytes. Its main role is to store energy in the form of lipids, although it also cushions and insulates the body.
Far from being hormonally inert, adipose tissue has, in recent years, been recognized as a major endocrine organ, as it produces hormones such as leptin, estrogen, resistin, and cytokine.
The two types of adipose tissue are white adipose tissue (WAT), which stores energy, and brown adipose tissue (BAT), which generates body heat.
The formation of adipose tissue appears to be controlled in part by the adipose gene. Adipose tissue – more specifically brown adipose tissue – was first identified by the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner in 1551.
Images for kids
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Distribution of white adipose in the human body
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Abdominal obesity in men ("beer belly")
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Micro-anatomy of subcutaneous fat
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Brown fat cell
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Diagrammatic sectional view of the skin (magnified).
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White adipose tissue in paraffin section
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Electronic instrument of body fat meter
See also
In Spanish: Tejido adiposo para niños
